The last few years have seen a marked increase of information published or otherwise sent via electronic media. The need for privacy and protection of certain types of information has also increased significantly. Moreover the sender of the information may want to limit the accuracy of information depending upon who the recipient is.
For example, as more devices become geo location aware these devices will increasingly send the location data to consumers and consolidators of this data. The users of these devices will increasingly want to protect their location information, and control the quality and resolution of this information. A user of a geo location transmitting device may want to give the highest accuracy geo location data to their friends, while giving certain advertisers (e.g., restaurants) geo location data with an accuracy of about 10 miles, and other advertisers (e.g., concert promoters) geo location data with an accuracy of about 100 miles. In another example, a user may want to share or sell his location to a consolidator or data miner, but only want to reveal the location down to an accuracy of 5 miles, while at the same time providing friends and family with an accuracy down to the block level and co-workers with an accuracy down to 10 miles.
In another example, users may want to share or sell some of their vital data, but do not want the opposite party to gain full knowledge of the data. Such a situation would occur when two parties want to exchange age information, but only reveal the age down to an accuracy of a decade.
Another example is when a user wants to reveal blood sugar levels with the highest possible accuracy to the user's current general practitioner, while at the same time only letting the insurance company know the blood sugar levels to an accuracy of two digits of precision.
Systems and methods for controlling accuracy of information sent by a sender are described herein. According to some embodiments, a method is described which includes receiving a first value representing a numerical value; assembling a package based in part on the first value; and sending the package. The package, when received by a receiver, is unpacked to yield a second value representing the numerical value and having a reduced accuracy with respect to the first value. The accuracy reduction depending on one or more policies and an identity associated with the receiver or the sender.
According to some embodiments, the numerical value is based on a numerical measurement or a set of numerical measurements. The policies can include one or more policies associated with the sender and/or the receiver. The package assembly can be based in part on the policies associated with the sender.
According to some embodiments the method is applied to a set of values, for instance a series of measurements describing the variation of a physical parameter. According to some embodiments, the set of values has different policies attached to different parts of the set. For example, if a set represents the geo location measurements for the last 24 hours, the locations around the home may be associated with different policies than the locations around the workplace.
According to some embodiments, the package is sent to a first receiver and a second receiver, the first receiver unpacking the package to yield one value having a reduced accuracy, and the second receiver unpacking the package to yield a different value also having a reduced accuracy. The policies can be applied to reduce accuracy prior to reception by the receiver, and the numerical value can be entered manually by the sender.
According to some embodiments, the package can be sent to a first receiver, who unpacks the value to extract a reduced value. The first receiver can then transmit the original package to a second receiver who unpacks the package to extract a different value possibly with higher accuracy than the first receiver. According to some embodiments, the packages are transitive. For example, the packages can be bought and sold by receivers to third parties, who may extract values depending on the policy and credentials they present.
According to some embodiments, the numerical value relates to a geographic location, and can represent one or more types of location information, such as: country, region, city, postal/zip code, latitude, longitude, Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate, and timezone.
According to some other embodiments, the numerical value relates to medical data, an can represent information such as: body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and blood chemistry.
According to some other embodiments the numerical value relates to financial data. For example, the numerical value can represent financial estimate of risk and/or financial estimate of worth.
It will be appreciated that these systems and methods are novel, as are applications thereof and many of the components, systems, and methods employed therein. It should be appreciated that embodiments of the presently described inventive body of work can be implemented in numerous ways, including as processes, apparatuses, systems, devices, methods, computer readable media, and/or as a combination thereof. Several illustrative embodiments are described below.